Advancing health equity and the role of digital health technologies: a scoping review
Journal
BMJ Open
ISSN
2044-6055
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2025-06
Author(s)
Abstract
Background
Health disparities persist, posing significant health, social and economic challenges. Digital health technologies (DHTs) present a promising opportunity to address these inequities and advance health equity. Despite this potential, a comprehensive and structured overview of existing frameworks and guidelines on advancing health equity and a clear understanding of the potential of DHTs in their implementation to systematically close the healthcare gap is yet to be done.
Objective
To this end, our objectives are twofold: first, to identify frameworks and guidelines that promote health equity and second, to pinpoint the role of DHTs as an avenue for their implementation. We conducted a scoping review informed by Arksey and O'Malley’s five-stage framework, methodological guidelines by the Joanna Briggs Institute and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews.
Sources of evidence
A comprehensive search was conducted across seven databases on 6 December 2023: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science and WISO.
Eligibility criteria
We included primary and secondary studies published in English between 2010 and 2023 focusing on advancing health equity for priority populations.
Charting methods
For the analysis, we applied multistaged coding approaches to answer our twofold objective.
Results
The search identified 6419 studies, of which 38 met our final inclusion criteria and were included in this review. We extracted 559 recommendations on advancing health equity and synthesised these into 82 distinct recommendations across five levels of initiative and 19 areas of initiative. Thereby, 24% of the included studies explicitly mentioned the use of (digital) technology with 10 impact opportunities on advancing health equity.
Conclusion
Our synthesis offers key insights into the advancement of health equity across different levels of initiative and the role of DHTs in their implementation. This offers practitioners and researchers alike a comprehensive overview to make health equity advancement more tangible and actionable.
Registration details
https://osf.io/94pht
Health disparities persist, posing significant health, social and economic challenges. Digital health technologies (DHTs) present a promising opportunity to address these inequities and advance health equity. Despite this potential, a comprehensive and structured overview of existing frameworks and guidelines on advancing health equity and a clear understanding of the potential of DHTs in their implementation to systematically close the healthcare gap is yet to be done.
Objective
To this end, our objectives are twofold: first, to identify frameworks and guidelines that promote health equity and second, to pinpoint the role of DHTs as an avenue for their implementation. We conducted a scoping review informed by Arksey and O'Malley’s five-stage framework, methodological guidelines by the Joanna Briggs Institute and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews.
Sources of evidence
A comprehensive search was conducted across seven databases on 6 December 2023: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science and WISO.
Eligibility criteria
We included primary and secondary studies published in English between 2010 and 2023 focusing on advancing health equity for priority populations.
Charting methods
For the analysis, we applied multistaged coding approaches to answer our twofold objective.
Results
The search identified 6419 studies, of which 38 met our final inclusion criteria and were included in this review. We extracted 559 recommendations on advancing health equity and synthesised these into 82 distinct recommendations across five levels of initiative and 19 areas of initiative. Thereby, 24% of the included studies explicitly mentioned the use of (digital) technology with 10 impact opportunities on advancing health equity.
Conclusion
Our synthesis offers key insights into the advancement of health equity across different levels of initiative and the role of DHTs in their implementation. This offers practitioners and researchers alike a comprehensive overview to make health equity advancement more tangible and actionable.
Registration details
https://osf.io/94pht
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
BMJ
Volume
15
Number
6
Start page
1
End page
10